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Canadian ship lost in Antarctic

By Moira WelshEmily Mathieustaff reporters

Sat., Nov. 24, 2007

In the rolling black waves of the Antarctic Ocean, Capt. Oliver Kruess watched the rescue unfold.

The Explorer, the first cruise ship ever built to ply the frigid waters off Antarctica, lay on its side, sinking in the ocean it had criss-crossed for 40 years. For four hours now, 154 passengers and crew floated in lifeboats and Zodiacs, waiting for ships that answered their distress call.

The Explorer lists in Antarctic waters yesterday after it hit some ice. The ship’s 154 passengers and crew escaped after a Norwegian boat picked them up. (REUTERS / CHILEAN NAVY)

When Kruess's ship, the National Geographic Endeavor, came upon the scene, it was 6:30 a.m., still dark, the temperature hovered at around -5C. At the same time, the tourist ship, the Norwegian Nord Norge, arrived. The Nord Norge, the larger of the two rescue vessels, quickly sent its crew down in lifeboats. One by one, they brought the lifeboats close to the ship, pulled the passengers onto the ship's lifeboat and raised it to the point where they could safely disembark.

"We experience breathtaking things down here, the landscapes, the whales, the penguins, the seals, it is difficult to describe, but this was the most dramatic thing I have ever seen," Kruess said.

There were 90 passengers, including 10 Canadian tourists, who paid Toronto's G.A.P. Adventures for a trip on its Antarctic cruise ship. Two of the crew were Canadian as well. The Nord Norge took them all to King George Island, where they were housed in Chile's Eduardo Frei Montalva air force base.

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The Times of London reported that British tourists relaxed in the base gym. Bob Flood, a British member of the expedition team, recalled the ordeal:

"After midnight we were going through a lot of ice," Flood told The Times.

"There was a lot of crunching you could hear. It did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary, but there was one big bang. A passenger shortly after reported water on the lower decks."

As the ship began listing, passengers were called to the muster station about 1 a.m.

"Then the electricity cut out and we lost the engine," Flood said. "At that time a large iceberg came and lodged itself on the starboard side of the boat, which was where we were listing towards. That would have prevented us launching the lifeboats. At 3 o'clock an order was given to abandon ship. A general mayday went out."

No one panicked, and the passengers were in high spirits.

"We knew there were ships not too far off," Flood said. "There was a lot of joke-telling. It's the most bizarre thing that people tell Titanic jokes."

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Kira Zack, spokesperson for G.A.P. Adventures, said the company is doing a full investigation. "Once we have all the information we will provide it," Zack said.

Lloyd's List, a maritime and transport newspaper, reported yesterday the Explorer had five deficiencies at its last inspection, including missing search and rescue plans and lifeboat maintenance problems. The inspection was performed in May by the Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Lloyd's List said Chilean port state control inspectors also found six deficiencies during an inspection in Puerto Natales in March.

But Zack said the ship underwent safety and maintenance checks in the Canary Islands and was issued a safety certificate on Oct. 21.

Arnvid Hansen, captain of the Nord Norge, told The Canadian Press the passengers were in life boats for five to six hours but no one had suffered from hypothermia.

When the distress call came in at 2 a.m., Kruess turned the Endeavor in the opposite direction and raced across the Antarctic Ocean.

He had worked on the Explorer for "one full Antarctic season" a few years ago, and knew many of the crew.

"We all know each other down here," he said

In an interview with the Star, Kruess called the rescue a masterful execution of seamanship and once the passengers and crew were accounted for, the shock set in that the Explorer, the ship that many of them had at one time or another worked on, was lying on her side, sinking as floes surrounded her.

Tim Soper, an expedition leader on the Endeavor, helped rescue some of the crew. He brought them on board the Endeavor, giving them hot tea and fresh muffins. After 30 minutes, a boat from the Nord Norge took them to that ship.

"It's obviously a very sad day because the Explorer is very much loved," Soper said.

"It was a small ship with a great crew, great camaraderie and lots of like-minded travellers. She went through some of the most incredible places in the world.

"There is a joke in our business: If you think you've found a new landing, somewhere that has never been visited before, you get there and the locals are always wearing the T-shirt from the Explorer."

In the late afternoon, Kruess said, the last pictures he had seen of the Explorer showed her lying 90 degrees on the side. "She's still floating. She's fighting it. She's a tough old lady. But she drifted onto the ice, and now she is lost."

Last night, about 20 hours after the accident, the first cruise ship built to ply the waters off Antarctica became the first ever to sink there.

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